1. The Great Gatsby HO72 Drama and prose post-1900 (Component 02)
Lesson 1
LO: In this lesson you will:
Gain an overview of the era in which the Great Gatsby is set
Explore some of the events in history which affected Fitzgerald’s work
audio book

2. The period You have been given a selection of images.
AO3
You have been given a selection of images.
What do these images suggest about the age?
Read Nicholas Tredell’s historical context handout and annotate the images with key words.
Listen to jazz here

3. Setting
Published in 1925
Set in 1922
Discuss different covers

4. The Epigraph
Usually, authors will quote another famous author, philosopher, or someone like that in the epigraph. But not Fitzgerald. He quotes himself. The epigraph in Gatsby is fake.
“Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her; If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, Till she cry “Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I must have you!” – Thomas Parke D’Invilliers
Thomas Parke D’Invilliers is not a real person. He’s actually a character in Fitzgerald’s first novel, This Side of Paradise.
Gatsby did everything short of wearing a “gold hat” for Daisy. He “bounced high” by making himself noticeable and throwing extravagant parties just for her. Finally, she noticed.
a phrase or form of words written in memory of a person who has died, especially as an inscription on a tombstone.
What do you think the relevance is of a fake epigraph?

5. Alternative Titles
Below are some of the working titles for The Great Gatsby. Decide what the significance of each might be – which aspect of the story (narrative) does it focus on (foreground)?
Did Fitzgerald choose the right title? Why did he choose The Great Gatsby?
Trimalchio in West Egg
The High-Bouncing Lover
Gold-hatted Gatsby
Among the Ash Heaps and Millionaires
On the road to West Egg
Under the Red, White and Blue
Trimalchio was the protagonist in Satyricon, by Petronius. He was a freedman who gained prestige and power through sheer tenacity and hard work. The term "Trimalchio" has become shorthand for the worst excesses of the nouveau riche.

6. The Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSOgWVlAMsg
Note down your brief impressions
Wider research: the book has been made into a film 5 times. Research other films. Note differences in presentation.

7. The Period Jazz age Inter-War Roaring 20s
AO3
Below is a list of some of the names given to the period approximately between and the generation who became adults in it:
Jazz age
Inter-War
Roaring 20s
La Génération du Feu Generation of Fire)
World War 1 Generation
Bright Young Things
Pre-Depression Era
The Flapper Era
Lost Generation
Golden Twenties
Golden Age of Hollywood
Prohibition Era
Give out each of these as a separate sheets, annotate with what the era might have been like

8. Annotate your ideas Mood/tone Themes Impression of the people
On the different names, annotate with your ideas about what the era may have been like. Consider:
Mood/tone
Themes
Impression of the people
Impressions of the period.

9. F Scott Fitzgerald AO3 Read the handout you have been given.
What kind of world did Fitzgerald live in?
How might this have affected his work and what he chose to write about.
What do you consider to be the most influential events and why?
Independent Learning Task:
Visit my blog and watch the BBC programme on the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Make careful notes and create a timeline of key moments in his life such as his education, marriage, publication of works.
Extra challenge: Write a summary of Fitzgerald in your reading journal and note similarities to Gatsby as you read the novel.

10. The Novel We will now take turns to read aloud from the opening;
Note your initial impressions (especially in the context of biographical information already explored).
Consider how you will represent the chapter in your Reading Journal.
Highlight key quotations and annotate the text with ideas/questions

11. Echoes of the Jazz Age
AO3
Read the article which first appeared in Scribner Magazine in 1931 in which Fitzgerald reflects on the period with which he had become so closely associated. The Great Gatsby was published 6 years before the article at the height of the ‘Jazz Age’.
Talk about the relationship between the novel and the article, for example:
attitudes towards the period
voice
choices of language
the relationship with the reader

12. Check your learning
Using the first person narrative perspective. Write your impressions of today’s lesson.
Prep for next lesson
Read chapter 1 of the novel.

13. Homework
AO3
Each group will research (books and internet) the context of Fitzgerald’s life:
Major literary works (with brief summaries)
Prohibition
The American Dream
Hollywood
The Jazz Age
The Roaring Twenties
Each group will give brief presentations to the rest of class (and lead discussions, not simply read from PPT!).
Each group will provide a handout with brief notes on their topic and upload their powerpoints to Edmodo.

14. The Great Gatsby HO72 Drama and prose post-1900 (Component 02)
Lesson 2
LO: In this lesson you will:
Discuss the conventional purposes of the opening of novels
Analyse the construction of the opening of The Great Gatsby
Evaluate issues of first person perspective

15. Context Presentations
May only do one or two

16. Conventional Purposes of Beginnings
AO2
With a partner, discuss and list the conventional purposes of the opening of any novel
establish setting
establish context
introduce main characters
establish narrative perspective

17. The introduction
AO2
If we judge the opening of the Great Gatsby to be the passages wherein Nick describes himself, his family and his job, which of these conventional functions does the introduction fulfil and how?
Narrative perspective
Codes of behaviour
Contrasts between East and West Egg
Gatsby’s character

18. First person narrative perspective
AO2
Fitzgerald chooses to tell the story in a self-conscious, first-person voice through the narrative of Nick Carraway. In pairs, brainstorm the possible advantages and disadvantages of the first person narrator.

19. Who is Nick Carraway?
AO2
Early in chapter 1, Nick gives the impression that he is tolerant and has strong family and moral values.
Look again at the extract from pg 3-4 …’elations of men.’
What evidence can you find that there may be complex contradictions in Nick’s character?
Extra challenge: how might these contradictions affect Nick’s role as narrator of the story?
Snobbish, judges too harsh, arrogance.
Unreliable narrator – only one perspective.

20. Independent Task
AO2
Read Nicolas Treddell on Narration. Make notes (using the headings below)on the ways in which Fitzgerald overcomes the limitations of first person narrative voice:
Recounting dialogue between characters
Direct quotation of another character’s sustained account
Paraphrasing another characters’ words
Piecing together fragments of a story into a continuous narrative in Nick’s voice
Speculation about what might have happened
Speculation about what a character may have felt e.g. ‘he must have felt…’
Evocations of another character’s consciousness ‘he felt…’

21. Independent Learning Task
AO2
This week, you will carry out some wider reading from The Art Of Fiction by David Lodge.
Read and make notes for your folder on the following chapters:
Chapter 1 Beginning
Chapter 6 Point of View
Chapter 34 The Unreliable Narrator
Consider how each relates to the text you are studying.
Add these notes to your reading journal.

22. Introducing Tom, Daisy and Jordan
AO2
For each of the characters, list the adverbs used about their actions from pages 7–14.
What impression do you get of each character from the list attributed to them?
Does the list support the more direct comments on the character?
Is the use of adverbs in the narration attributed to the narrator in the same way that statements of opinion are? Should we interpret it that way?
Tom
Daisy
Jordan
restlessly

23. Direct Comments Tom & Daisy:
Two old friends who I scarcely knew at all.
They spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully…
Tom:
A rather hard mouth and supercilious manner
Jordan:
Her grey sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite reciprocal curiosity out of a wan, charming, discontented face.
Daisy:
Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright, passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice…a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour.
Supercilious: behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others:

24. Independent learning task
AO2
Complete the summary paragraphs on the handout you have been given on how each of the characters is introduced.
Bring to the next lesson.
Give out hand out L2 introducing tom, daisy and jordan

25. Introducing Tom, Daisy and Jordan
AO2
Look carefully again at the section from Nick’s entrance on pg 7: ‘The only completely stationary object …’ to Tom and Jordan’s exit: ‘… strolled back into the library …’ on pg 13.
Work in groups of four to break this down into a number of smaller sections. To help decide on the smaller sections, focus on tensions, and exits and entrances within the group.
Once agreed, decide on a title for each small section.. Focus on characterisation and character relationships, as well as mood and atmosphere. Select a quote from the text to support each section.
east egg lunch

26. Homework
Update your reading journal – include character profile pages for Tom, Daisy and Jordan with key quotations from chapter 1.
Complete the chapter questions (on Blog)
Read chapter 2

27. The Great Gatsby HO72 Drama and prose post-1900 (Component 02)
Lesson 3
LO: In this lesson you will:
Explore the link between geography and morality in the novel
Analyse the dinner conversation for prejudices which reflect the context of the novel.
Begin to track the use of symbolism in the novel

28. Tom, Daisy and Jordan
Compare your summaries of each of the characters.
Make predictions about what will happen to them in the novel.

29. Not as refined as it seems Unattractive realities
Comparing the Eggs
AO2
West Egg
East Egg
New rich
Extravagant displays of wealth
Poor taste
Lack of breeding
Conservative
Aristocratic – inherited money
Not as refined as it seems
Fashionable
Fake
Polite/well mannered
Appealing surface
Unattractive realities
Pg 5 strangest communities in north america – annotate handout with quotations.

30. Geography & Morality
AO2
Fitzgerald uses the superficial similarities between the Eggs to emphasise how different they are. They may be ‘identical in contour’ but are dissimilar in ‘every particular except shape and size’.
Each location has a different morality which encourages the reader to make comparisons.
Independent Task:
Make a section in your Reading Journal for the four distinct locations of the novel. Collect quotation to compare and contrast. Consider what Fitzgerald may be saying about the nature if morality through the geography of the novel.:
The Mid West
West Egg
East Egg
New York

31. The Dinner Party
AO3
Nick visits the Buchanans’ for lunch – everything appears civilised and carefree at first, but tensions and prejudices soon start to emerge.
In pairs, find two examples of prejudice.
Make a link to the context of the novel.
What is Fitzgerald trying to highlight?
Racism and sexism

32. Homework
AO2
Chapter 1 uses the role of light and colour to enhance themes and mood. To help us track this symbolism, login to Padlet and add the examples we have seen so far. Feel free to add your own references as you read further into the novel.
Symbols
A symbol is an object or image that represents something other than itself. A symbol might provide some information or relate to an idea. E.g. cars symbolise both status and death/destruction.
In your Padlet notes, consider what each symbol represents and why.
gmail login mrsjgibbs freddie3

33. Homework
AO2
Add notes to the setting Padlet. Your first essay will be on the subject of settings so it is important to keep a track of how each is presented.

34. The Great Gatsby HO72 Drama and prose post-1900 (Component 02)
Lesson 4
LO: In this lesson you will:
Explore the development of modernism and the modern novel
Compare the Valley of the Ashes with T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland.
Analyse New York as a setting of the novel
Chapter 2

35. Modern vs realist
AO3/4
The Romantic Era was a late 18th- early 19th century artistic movement which focused on the celebration of the beauty of nature and favoured emotion over reason. Authors include poets such as Wordsworth, Blake and Edgar Alan Poe.
Realism became popular from the mid 19th century and was all about the historical time frame and reference, and writing about events and situations that actually happened in real life. The best know authors at this time were Mark Twain and Emily Dickenson.
Modernism coincides with the rapid technological change of the early 20th century, driven by demands of the war. Writers began to experiment with unconventional language and structures. Fitzgerald greatly admired modernist poet T.S Eliot. Fitzgerald took things further by merging poetic Romanticism with the spare style of the Modernist, incorporating advertising slogans and slang into his work.

36. Independent Task Read the handout you have been given.
AO3/4
Read the handout you have been given.
Watch and make notes on the short lecture on Modernism. Link on Blog.
L4 literary movements.

37. The Wasteland and The Valley of Ashes
AO4
Fitzgerald admired the modernist poet T.S. Eliot.
Eliot’s long poem ‘The Wasteland’ was published in It represents a sterile landscape, where everyone is isolated and unable to love, it voiced a common concern of the 1920s.
Eliot’s idea may have inspired Fitzgerald’s idea of the desolate valley of the ashes.
‘What shall we do to-morrow?
What shall we ever do?’
T.S Eliot, The Wasteland
‘What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon?’ cried Daisy, ‘and the day after that, and for the next thirty years?’
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

38. Two Desolate Worlds
AO3/4
Compare the description of The Valley of the Ashes with the extract from Eliot’s The Wasteland. What similarities are there?
What comment is each writer making about the world in which they live?
Annotate each of the texts.
Wasteland extract and opening of chapter 2.

39. Homework – wider reading
AO3/4
Over the next week, you will carry out wider reading from the three literary movements and compare their styles.
Romantics: William Blake, selected poems; Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven
Realist: Mark Twain, ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’, Emily Dickenson
Modernist: T.S Eliot, ‘The Wasteland’
Late Modernist: William Faulkner, ‘Lord of The Flies’
All the texts are available on my Blog.
In your reading journal, write a summary of the differences you notice between the texts.
Also: Read chapter 3
Don’t forget to add notes to the setting padlet! Essay coming up!

40. New York, New York
AO2/3
As we read chapter 2, each group will focus on a particular theme of the chapter:
Appearance and material possessions
Unhappy marriage – Buchanans, Wilsons, McKees
The poor treatment of the working classes- Wilson, Myrtle
Alcohol as a negative influence
can’t stop party scene
Collect key quotations which illustrate the themes. Discuss what Fitzgerald is saying about each. Make a link to context.

41. The Great Gatsby HO72 Drama and prose post-1900 (Component 02)
Lesson 5
LO: In this lesson you will:
Analyse the language used to describe Gatsby’s party
Consider the techniques Fitzgerald uses to create Gatsby’s character
Explore the themes of illusion and isolation
Chapter 2

42. Who is Jay Gatsby? AO2 Eponymous character:
I’m Gatsby
Eponymous character:
The title character of the work e.g. Gatsby in The Great Gatsby

43. Rumour and Mystery
AO2
Work in pairs. Identify all of the examples of different rumours that are circulating about Gatsby’s past life. Which are most likely to be accurate?
What is the relevance of ‘Owl Eyes’?
Killed a man, german spy, oxford man, dim background, foreshadow, illusion

44. The mysterious Gatsby
AO2
Whilst we have already glimpsed Gatsby, this is the moment Nick finally meets him, but he doesn’t even realise.
Collect and annotate quotations which depict:
His physical appearance
His deliberately crafted persona
Summarise your impressions of Gatsby in your reading journal.
illusion

45. The Party
AO2
The poetic language lends a magical atmosphere to the parties. Find examples of the following in the description:
Poetic imagery
List form
Changes of pace
Sharp contrast
What is the effect of each of these?
How does the film also convey these ideas?
Blue gardens, whisperings and the champagne and the stars, sight, sound taste, initially sees all far away, then becomes alive with chatter and laughter. Drunkeness to show hedonism, contasrast between bad behaviour and magical surrounding

46. Glamour and Bad Behaviour
AO2/3
Underneath all the glamour, Gatsby’s party is full of bad behaviour. Collect evidence to show this.
Sexual promiscuity

47. Evidence of Isolation
AO2
Gatsby’s party is packed, he seems to be a popular man. But most of the time he lives alone in an empty house.
Nick doesn’t belong in either Egg community or in New York
Gatsby’s isolation
Nick’s isolation
Gatsby stands ‘alone’ at the edge of his party
Nick feels ‘purposeless and alone’
Notice Nick’s final comment about being the only honest man he knows…

48. Homework
AO1/2/3/4
‘In his settings Fitzgerald contrasts light with dark, luxury with ashes.’
In the light of this comment, discuss ways in which Fitzgerald uses settings in ‘The Great Gatsby’. In your answer you should make connections and comparisons with the extract from T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland
To help you plan this essay, complete the worksheet on settings.
You can also read an exam style answer from a real candidate (see page 29-31) attached to your assignment on Edmodo. Notice how they meet the AOs: 1,2,3,4
Essay add candidate essay to Edmodo
Setting handout
Also: Read chapter 4

49. Key features of successful essays
What are the key features of good literature essays? Make a list now. Then put them in order of importance. Compare with the list below:
Answers the question
Is well structured, developing a clear line of argument
Uses textual evidence effectively
Includes close analysis of language
Is well expressed and accurately written
Uses a range of contexts effectively
Is interesting to the reader
Has a strong introduction and conclusion
Demonstrates independent thought, personal engagement and some originality
Engages in informed critical debate
Uses advanced critical vocabulary
Fulfils the assessment objectives
The 1-12 list reveals on click

50. The Great Gatsby HO72 Drama and prose post-1900 (Component 02)
Lesson 6
LO: In this lesson you will:
Explore the chronological structure of the novel
Begin to track flashbacks and revelations
Analyse and comment on the way Fitzgerald creates mystery and suspense
Chapter 3/4

51. Narrative Structure
AO2
The events of one summer in 1921 are narrated in chronological order, from the perspective of Nick but several years later. There are 9 chapters and most of them feature a party. Nick also gradually reveals some of the backstory for Gatsby, the Buchanans and Jordan, as well as his own. 
Chart where these revelations/flashbacks occur in chapters 1-3. Working in small groups, discuss how this disruption of chronological time creates suspense. 
Complete this as an on-going independent task for each chapter to give you an overview of the structure of the novel.
Handout student resource 4

52. Chapter 4 AO1/2 Key words: ambiguous, eponymous
The structure of this chapter is in three parts and we learn much more about Gatsby:
Nick lists Gatsby’s party guests: emphasises the darkness beneath the wealthy, carefree and lavish lifestyle.
Gatsby takes Nick to lunch with Wolfshiem. The connection with Wolfshiem raises the suspicion that Gatsby may be a criminal.
Jordan’s description of Gatsby’s past romance with Daisy. This portrays another side of his personality and adds another layer of mystery.
Key words: ambiguous, eponymous
L6 gatsby is…
Task: How would you describe Jay Gatsby from all the information you have gathered so far?
Use the model to write your own paragraph

53. The Sheik of Araby
I'm The Sheik Of Araby Your love belongs to me At night when you're asleep, Into your tent I'll creep...
While stars are fading in the dawn Over the desert they'll be gone
His captured bride Close by his side Swift as the wind they will ride Proudly he scorns her smile or tear Soon he will conquer love by fear…
Tonight I'm dreaming of Araby, That's where my dreams seem to carry me
Soon you'll see within a caravan An Arab man Will take me over the desert…
The stars that shine above Will light our way to love You'll rule this land with me The Sheik Of Araby.
That's why I long to be Where all those happy faces Wait for me, Beside the fair oasis…
obsession, object of desire, suggest unwilling victim, recapture past, pretend marriage to tom didn’t happen, immoral, contrats real and dream
What is the relevance of this popular Jazz song?

54. Writing Task
AO1/2
Much of chapter 4 is concerned with the reconstruction of past events. Choose two of these events and rewrite them from the perspectives of different characters to show how they try to construct the events differently.
Why do you think these differences exist?
Are they solely concerned with memory or do the characters have different agendas?

55. Who/What do we learn more about?
Tuesday. Joe came barging into my room this morning at practically nine o’clock. Couldn’t have been more furious. Started to fight, but too dead. Know he said he wouldn’t be home to dinner. Absolutely cold all day; couldn’t move. Last night couldn’t have been more perfect. Ollie and I dined at Thirty-Eight East, absolutely poisonous food, and not one living soul that you’d be seen dead with, and “Run like a Rabbit”¹ was the world’s worst. Took Ollie up to the Barlows’ party and it couldn’t have been more attractive – couldn’t have been more people absolutely stinking. They had those Hungarians in green coats, and Stewie Hunter was leading them with a fork – everybody simply died. He had yards of green toilet paper hung around his neck like a lei²; he couldn’t have been in better form. Met a really new number³, very tall, too marvellous, and one of those people that you can really talk to them. I told him sometimes I get so nauseated I could yip4, and I felt I absolutely had to do something like write or paint. He said why didn’t I write or paint. Came home alone; Ollie passed out stiff. Called up the new number three times today to get him to come to dinner and go with me to the opening of “Never Say Good Morning”¹, but first he was out and then he was all tied up with his mother. Finally got Ollie Martin. Tried to read a book, but couldn’t sit still. Can’t decide whether to wear the red lace or the pink with the feathers. Feel too exhausted, but what can you do?
Dorothy Parker, From The Diary of a New York Lady (1933)